10 Best Christmas Light Displays in the US

The holidays are fast approaching, which means Christmas light displays will soon be lighting up across the country. From wacky residential displays to professional over-the-top spectacles, AOL Travel has rounded up the 10 Best Christmas Light Displays in the U.S.

10 Best Christmas Light Displays in the US

The holidays are fast approaching, which means Christmas light displays will soon be lighting up across the country. From wacky residential displays to professional over-the-top spectacles, AOL Travel has rounded up the 10 Best Christmas Light Displays in the U.S. Unlike your kooky neighbor's blow up Santa Claus, these Christmas light displays have been bringing visitors back year after year. Some are classy, others tacky -- but each one sparkles with unmatched holiday cheer.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida
This residential Christmas light display in Fort Lauderdale has its own Ferris wheel, a 30-foot Christmas tree, and collections of snowmen, penguins and reindeer. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs make an appearance amongst the palm trees and lights at Hyatt Extreme Christmas, along with some Disney and Loony Tunes characters. The Hyatt's have also built Santa's Workshop and a nativity scene, all of which were bathed in 150,000 lights last year-and this year promises to be bigger and better!

Washington, DC
Although not the most spectacular with it comes to glitz and glamour, one classic Christmas light display is the National Christmas Tree in Washington DC. A large tree near the White House is lit up during a televised event, and a path featuring other lighted decorations that leads up to the National Christmas Tree is dubbed the "Pathway to Peace." The event started in 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit a 48-foot fir tree decorated with red, white and green bulbs as a quartet from the U.S. Marine Band performed. Today it is just one way our nation's capital gets ready for the holiday season.

Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri
Just in time for the holiday season, this theme park near Branson, Missouri is transformed into a dazzling holiday wonderland. The light and sound show begins with a daily tree lighting ceremony at the central square, where a five-story Christmas tree that flickers to the beat of holiday songs is lit. The rest of Silver Dollar City glows in over 4 million dazzling lights. The twinkling floats of the Gifts of Christmas Holiday Light Parade also pass by twice each evening.

Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World, Florida
What began in Arkansas as a family home's annual Christmas light display has gone Disney. Since 1995, the Osborne family has been blanketing Disney's Streets of America in glittering lights. Every ten minutes or so the lights dim and then dramatically spring back to life, flawlessly choreographed to holiday music. Sometimes the show is even capped off with a flurry of snow. Couple the light show with Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade at the Magic Kingdom, and visitors will have a very merry holiday season indeed.

Huntington Beach, California
This cruise along the waterways of Huntington's man-made islands showcases the Christmas light displays of multi-million-dollar homes. Estates decked out in every type of Christmas light display imaginable can be seen; from simple strands of white lights to professional grade lighting spectacles. All the glittering lights are reflected in the water, making this Christmas light display double the fun. Anyone with access to a boat can enjoy the show, or you can hop on the Huntington Harbor Cruise of Lights for the night.

New York, New York
Tens of thousands of people crowd the streets for the lighting of the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a Norway Spruce illuminated by 30,000 lights and crowned with a Swarovski crystal star. This Christmas lighting display tradition has been going on since 1931, when Depression-era construction workers strung cranberries and a few tin cans on a small tree. Today, the entire plaza around the Rockefeller Center is decked out in Christmas cheer, including the famous ice rink.

West Knoxville, Tennessee
Shadrack's Water Sports in West Knoxville, Tennessee, has transformed the hillside behind their boat showroom into one of the most marvelous Christmas light displays in the country. As part of the spectacle, hundreds of thousands of twinkling Christmas lights dance to synchronized music. Visitors just drive up to Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland, flip the radio channel to a special station, and enjoy the show.

Baltimore, Maryland
Now in its 62nd year, thousands of people descend on this block of row houses to witness the fantastic lighting display known as "Miracle on 34th Street." Christmas light displays on 34th Street-unofficially dubbed "Christmas Street" during the holidays-are as quirky as Baltimore itself. Each house is different, including one with trains circling the rooftop and another with Christmas trees made from hubcaps. A true labor of love, residents light up the street on their own dime and also perform their very own ball drop on New Year's Eve.

Wheeling, West Virginia
For Oglebay's Winter Festival of Lights, a six-mile drive through the hillsides of the resort is decorated in one of the largest and most famous Christmas light displays in the country. As part of the drive, visitors pass through a tunnel with thousands of twinkling snowflakes, a nearly sixty-foot tall poinsettia wreath, and even Snoopy and the gang-the Peanuts have been making an appearance since 2000. The gardens area features 150 hanging baskets of light, a few dozen lighted trees, and a life-size Nativity scene.